livin veg

Feral cat colonies have sprung up all over the country. In alley ways, backyards, parks and pretty much any place you can think of. City or rural. Cats are there. They exist because people abandon their once beloved companions, or they fail to spay or neuter their indoor/outdoor cats. The sad truth is, we have more companion animals than we have willing homes in this country.

Many people see feral cat colonies as a nuisance. They want them captured and sent to shelters (where they will often live out their lives or be killed due to a lack of socialization.) Perhaps your hometown has been mulling over ways to deal with their feral cats. Many towns get complaints about colonies. Then, there are other wonderful people who feed and selflessly help care for the cats.

My mother is one of those wonderful people. And she is a perfect example of how one person can make all the difference when it comes to fixing the cat overpopulation issue and helping the cats that are out there on their own. An original two cats moved into the woods behind their yard. It was spring and they each had kittens. One of the mothers had her kittens in my parents outdoor room. Those kittens were able to be socialized and were adopted into homes. However, the other cat was much more frightened and kept her kittens away from humans. (They did accept food though so my mom left food for them.) But a pattern was developing. Without intervention, each of these kittens would go on to have a litter of their own. So, my mom had them all brought to the vet and each of them was fixed. Well, all except one that she couldn’t catch. The next year, that one cat had a litter. Her colony of 5 turned into a colony of 9. Just imagine how many they would have turned into if she hadn’t had the rest fixed! This time she was even more determined and did catch every single one of the new cats once they were old enough to be fixed. Now, she has a colony of 9 cats total and all of them have been spayed or neutered. She leaves food out for them twice a day and takes them each to get their shots once a year.  She has even bought warm kitty houses for them so they don’t freeze in the super cold weather. As you can see from the picture, they have grown to really trust her. Although they never really enjoy being captured and taken to the vet for shots. They also won’t let other humans near them.

Now, not everyone has the money to do what my mom did. But as you can see, getting the cats fixed stopped the colony from growing. It is now self contained. If each female had a litter every year for the past 4 years. (That’s how long my mom has had the colony living in her backyard) there would be some number between 75 and 100 cats to that colony. It can get out of hand so fast if something isn’t done.

Check out these resources on feral cat colonies and what you can do. Talk to your town about doing what my mom did – a little something called TNR which stands for Trap Neuter Return. It saves lives and helps keep the number of cats to a minimum.

For more info, also check out Alley Cat Allies…

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